| Author | Message | ||
  Anonymous |
I am working on a painting.It is family members(They are the worst critic.I having a problem on the baby hair line,is soft ,blonde.I am painting from photos from family.Help!! I need some tips. Thanks MC | ||
Linda |
Reading the entries under this topic warms my heart! A simple-yet-complex question, and all the pro's rush to assist. You guys are what makes the internet great! Angel, Kukana, Dazey, drollere, SutureSelf each contributed from their unique viewpoint, information no one else could give, and each in a darling way, with compassion, warmth and knowledge, all at the same time. You guys are all wonderful!!! | ||
SutureSelf |
As usual, Drollere's advice is sound and insightful. Also as usual, I have two cents to add. As important as modeling the shape of the head, modeling the pattern in the hair and modeling the quality of the hair are, I would consider another idea equally important. In order to avoid a cut-and-paste look to the piece, consider the edges of the general shape of the hair. A uniformly hard edge looks artificial, while a uniformly soft edge looks either ethereal or timid. Put some thought into where you want the hair to unify with the background and where you want it to stand away from the b.g. to a greater or lesser extent. Also, don't over-rely on defining the strands. The overall structure of the hair is far more important than the details of it. When we look at someone and come away with our impression of their hair, we don't see thousands of strands; we see "the hair." The tiny brush should be used judiciously around the hair's focal point. These few strokes should suggest every strand. Finally, as far as color is concerned, the highlights are generally related not to the local color of the hair but to the quality of the light illuminating it.  | ||
drollere |
phyllis, angel's instructions are very good, but i would take a slightly different approach. when you are painting hair, especially when it is pulled tightly over the head, you are trying to do at least three things at once: model the shape of the head (roundish); model the pattern in the hair (streaks of hair strands), and model the quality of the hair (glossy, dull, etc.). when i paint hair, i first wet the entire area to be painted as hair by covering it completely with a light wash that represents the color of the hair highlights. i let this dry to the point where the paper texture is clearly visible. then i lightly drop in around the back edges of the hair the color, usually dark and warm, that models the head shape. if the hair is braided, use this color to indicate the dark folds where hair disappears. model or coax the paint with a thirsty brush to soak up overexpansive paint and feather the transition to the highlight color. you can also soak up the highlight color in the areas where the hair glossiness is near white. this is a foundation shadow color, so don't fuss about getting it exactly right. as the surface dries, shift to the color that indicates the darker or shadow strands of hair and sketch the basic pattern of hair contours over the head. use a slightly thicker concentration of paint, so that it is less eager to blossom on the moist surface. only paint the depths and crossings in the hair surface. you can also add water to lift paint (make it lighter), and to keep the paper moisture where you want it as you work. (paint only blotches and becomes uncontrollable when it is no longer shiny but still cool to the touch. at that point, adding water causes ugly blotching.) finally, once the surface is "dry" and is not cool to the touch, use a small brush and thicker paint to draw very fine lines to clarify edges of the strands, signal very fine hair clusters pulled back, and so on. vary the lightness of the paint, and put less detail around the top and sides of the head, where the hair is viewed from the side. you can let the painting dry over night, then go back in and repeat from any step, building up or modifying the texture until it looks right. it's best to learn this method by copying a photograph, so that you can compare your painting to the original in detail. this is harder to do with a live model. this approach relies on visual mixing, or the appearance of a pattern at a medium distance, to get the effect of hair, rather than try to model the vagueness of hair through diffused paint. dog hair works the same way: just chunkier indications of hair texture, and more spontaneity. | ||
Angel |
Hey Kukana and Dazey, Right on! Thank you! How cool! Hee hee, I'm tickled! It made my day to read your messages! | ||
dazey |
I agree. Those were great tips for painting hair. I printed them out to save. Thanks, Angel | ||
Kukana |
Wow Angel, good instructions. You need to write a book. Im serious. You have a gift for being able to simplify very difficult steps and put them into easy to follow instructions. Go girl! | ||
Angel |
Draw carefully the entire outline of the hair with pencil or whatever on the watercolor paper. Wet inside this outline and slightly beyond its edge. Have a thirsty brush waiting (a wet brush shaken out) to use as a mop when the paint goes where you don't want it to. Let the wetness dry until it looks dry, then wet the paper again, in exactly the same way. Let it dry to a sheen and then immediately paint Mars yellow or PY42 wherever the highlights are, or across the entire hair area, as a thin glaze. Make all paint strokes on the prewetted paper so you don't get a hard edge (and thus, the helmet look). Keep the paintbrush on the dry side, or in other words, use as little water with the yellow as you can to keep control of where the pigment goes. You can also make tests on scrap paper to check your technique and water content with the yellow. Let this yellow glaze completely dry (a very long time!). Next, prewet the paper the same way for your next glaze color (what, burnt umber, or raw sienna, raw umber, a mix, whatever you want -- but this must be the medium tone in the hair). That is, wet where this color should go only, and slightly beyond this edge (some people do slightly BEFORE this edge, and feather the edge with a shaken out wet brush so no hard edges form -- try both ways on a scrap paper to find what works for you). Let it dry to where it looks dry, then wet again and let dry to a sheen (wet, but very little water there). Then, glaze this medium color into the places you want it to go, using your thirsty brush to mop up any messes. Keep toilet paper handy too, in case of a big mess. Let dry COMPLETELY! Last, repeat all the steps for your dark glaze (raw umber, transparent brown, a mixed black, never a tube paint black!). That is, wet, looks dry rewet now, glaze, mop, let completely dry. At this point you can leave it as is, or add another darkest glaze, whatever you think is fine. It is very helpful to feather edges (so no hard edges) with a thirsty brush. With the soft edge technique I've shown you here, no helmets will form, I promise!!! | ||
phyllis |
I am currently painting a picture of my daugher and her dog lying on a couch. Her hair is in a bun at the back of her hair and so only a crescent shape of her hair is what I need to paint. How to do that and not have it look like a helmet? I know the rule to have it fade into the background and yet am having difficulty doing this without ruining the look of the couch. The values in the painting are very pale, especially on the girl because the sunlight is very strong on her face and the couch behind her. Her natural hair colour is a medium brown with golden highlights. All my efforts to date have resulted in a not like hair effect. Any ideas? |
